Chapter 3: Obtaining the Pickaxe

"…What kind of harmony is this?"

Obiwan muttered to himself as he examined his body.

The solid lines were now gone. Whatever it was, he had definitely undergone a tremendous change. A power he had never experienced before was stirring within him.

'Could this be mana?'

The pleasant, unfamiliar sensation in his body and the fist he clenched felt as if it could crush anything.

Let's try it out. He looked at a pillar rising from the cave floor like a stalagmite and clenched his fist.

His muscles tensed, and he felt a surge of power.

He swung his fist like he was punching in an arcade.

Bang!

The pillar shattered.

It was a miraculous event that the previous Obiwan could never have imagined.

'Could I have awakened?'

There was no other way to explain it.

Hunters were said to first face the system window upon awakening, where they could check their stats, skills, and traits.

Was it a matter of synchronization?

Strength, agility, stamina, and mana were usually represented by numbers.

Obiwan's status window was like an analog device in the digital age, reminiscent of a pager in the smartphone era.

Whatever it was,

the important thing was that he had gained power.

Seeing his fist, unscathed after striking a rock, confirmed that he had indeed awakened. He had miraculously obtained what he had longed for in a mundane dungeon in Gangwon Province.

*

It didn’t take long for him to calm down. Awakening or not, what good was it if he couldn’t return to Earth?

Thinking of his siblings, Obiwan’s mind grew cold.

Sitting on a cave rock, he pondered the current situation and the meaning of the text that had appeared in his status window.

"The place is called Helon, it seems. Synchronization refers to the blue lines that spread through my body earlier. And... Dimensional Gate Opening...!"

As he spoke, a wobbly, water-like door appeared before his eyes.

Since he had been given this ability, it seemed his body was not in danger. The question was where this door led.

A dimensional gate likely meant a different dimension from the current dungeon.

When he touched it, he felt a wobbly sensation, similar to when he had been transported to the dungeon.

'Where does it connect to...?'

He cautiously stuck his face into the door.

"!"

Shit! It startled him. Obiwan quickly pulled his face back.

On the other side was the boss room.

The place where strange things had happened to him.

Two hunters were playing there, fortunately not noticing Obiwan.

'I can at least return home.'

The biggest worry was gone. He let out a sigh of relief and closed the dimensional gate.

*

While exploring the dungeon, Obiwan was lost in thought.

Why had this happened to him, not the other hunters?

What should he do next...

As he was deep in thought, he heard a strange sound.

"Click, click."

In front of the cave, under the blue light emitted by moss, a black shadow flickered.

The shadow soon multiplied into two, then three. Obiwan’s eyes widened as he recognized them.

Small, squat monsters with clubs in their hands.

Goblins.

They also noticed Obiwan and paused, tilting their heads as if to ask why he was there.

They muttered to each other, and then their pace quickened as they approached Obiwan.

Damn!

Startled, he sprinted to the end of the cave where he had first arrived. The goblins let out a roar and chased after him.

He wanted to escape through the dimensional gate, but hunters were waiting on the other side.

His only option was to run.

Looking back, Obiwan realized he was running much faster than usual.

So fast that the goblins had trouble keeping up.

He suddenly stopped.

He had the strength to crush rocks and was much faster.

'Do I really need to run?'

From low-level goblins?

Before his parents passed away, Obiwan had trained in taekwondo. In a world where monsters could appear from gates at any time, it was to increase his chances of survival.

The sight of the goblins, waddling like little dwarves, boosted his confidence.

Was there anything he could use as a weapon?

He picked up his phone and the pen in his shirt pocket.

He threw the phone at the approaching goblins, trying not to break it.

Curious by nature, the goblins stared blankly at the flying object.

Thud.

It landed on the ground, not a rock.

Obiwan threw a fist-sized rock at the goblins, who were still staring at the phone.

Whoosh!

Smack!

It hit one of the goblins squarely on the head, causing it to stagger and fall to the cave floor.

He then rushed to the dazed goblin and kicked it in the chest.

Crack!

It was slammed into the wall.

One goblin remained standing. Obiwan charged at it, aiming for its right eye with the pen. Sensing the danger, the goblin swung its club.

Whirr!

The pen barely grazed the club and broke. Obiwan pushed the goblin with his right shoulder. The two fallen goblins, now regaining their senses, shook their heads and got up.

'This is still too much!'

Obiwan ran back the way he came, and the goblins chased after him, moving quickly as they were familiar with the cave. The other goblins, who had just woken up, followed closely behind.

As Obiwan was running frantically, he spotted the pickaxe he had seen earlier.

'With the strength I have now, maybe I can try it?'

A pickaxe was better than bare hands, of course, if he could pull it out.

Approaching the pickaxe, Obiwan gripped the handle with both hands and pulled with all his might.

Swoosh!

It came out effortlessly, causing him to lose his balance and fall.

And once again, the status window appeared.

The information that followed was:

Mithril? Ore detection? Synchronization increase?!

Before he could process this, a goblin was already close.

The pickaxe in his hand felt lighter than expected and seemed easy to swing.

Before the goblin could swing its club, Obiwan raised the pickaxe high and brought it down.

Thud!

It struck the goblin’s forehead, causing green fluid to spurt out as the goblin collapsed.

'Oh!'

Obiwan’s gaze turned to the goblins who had paused in their pursuit, looking confused.

"Die, bastards!"

With renewed confidence, Obiwan charged at them.

With a thud, he split one goblin’s chest.

He then kicked another goblin into the wall.

For the final blow, he punched the goblin’s face with a rock in his fist. The impact was so strong that the goblin’s head spun halfway around.

"Huff... huff..."

His breath was heavy, and his chest swelled with emotion.

To think his body would move as he intended. Now he understood why hunters talked about the thrill of raids and the satisfaction of combat.

The reward for killing the monsters.